I grew up in a small college city. A prestigious private university, a well-regarded state university, two small liberal arts colleges and a community college made for a very interesting environment.
Following high school I ended up attending that private university. After settling into classes, my friends and I began to attend some of the rush events hosted by fraternities tied to the different schools. The fraternities weren’t located on campus or on a fraternity row of any kind. They were located around town in areas largely populated by off-campus student housing.
It would have been absurd for me to actually pledge a frat. All locals were trained to dislike “frat boys” beginning at an early age. Joining a frat was unthinkable, but their beer was cold and free.
The parties were a lot of fun. Each frat house had its own character – and gang of characters that lived in them. My far the most prestigious frat in town was Delta Tau Omega (DTO) largely due to its beautiful building. The DTO structure was like a palace which had been sculpted out of marble – an edifice which had been requisitioned by a railroad executive in the late 1880s.